Unfamiliar Words
by EmilyArtypants
Summary: Love, friend, understand- these and more are unfamiliar words to Kurt Hunter. Kurt is half-Enderman, and four years ago, when his sister died, he became the hostile mob everyone thought he was. But when Kurt starts to write things down, the unfamiliar words start to make sense.
1. Chapter 1

**That night when you died**

**That's when I went insane**

**All my life trying to play nice like they wanted me to and**

**There we were**

**Them trying to kill us**

**Because we were dangerous**

**Half human Half Enderman**

**They said we were mobs who needed to die**

**They said we had no feelings**

**Now I wish I didn't**

**It hurts all the time**

**I can't forget**

**I can't stop remembering**

**I wish I had no feelings because then I wouldn't feel the pain**

**Not the physical injuries**

**Those faded long ago**

**Although I get more every night**

**The pain of watching them kill you**

**That's what hurts the most**

**You were six**

**I was ten**

**How was that a fair fight?**

**I fought as hard as I could but they still did it**

**They thought I was dead so they left me**

**Neither of us could respawn because we're not all human**

**But I didn't die**

**Grief and anger and feelings so inhuman they don't have names**

**That's what kept me alive**

**I'm an animal now**

**The hostile mob they think I am**

**Anyone who comes into my forest dies**

**Painfully**

**And I have yet to repay the pain that I am still feeling**

Kurt Hunter sighed, letting the quill and book fall to the floor. He massaged his right hand, his muscles screaming with the pain. It had been four years since he'd tried to write, and he almost couldn't remember how. It had been four years since he'd left human civilization behind; he hadn't needed to write.

But now, he had arbitrarily decided to write things down. It hurt, not just making his hand go through the unfamiliar movements, but also the putting it down on paper. Bringing everything to the forefront of his mind.

He picked up the book and quill again, turning to the first page. He'd torn out all the previous written-on pages -the book had belonged to someone who had been caught in his forest- and tried to write down something that summed up his life. His writing was blocky and childish, as if he was just learning his letters, and words were misspelled, punctuation left out entirely.

He took a deep breath and curled his fingers around the quill.

**Day 1**

**I don't know why I'm doing this**

**Maybe because I'm finally going crazy**

**Or maybe because I want to become sane again**

**Am I tired of this life?**

**I don't know**

**When I think of what Esi would think**

**I feel sick and guilty**

**But when I think of what they did to her**

**The anger blocks everything out**

**Sometimes I wonder if there's anyone who doesn't hate me**

**Mom maybe**

**I had a cousin who left a year before it happened**

**It was his brother who did it**

**My cousin Kave killed my little sister**

**My other cousin's name was Kimon**

**I wonder if he would understand**

**I remember a girl when I was little**

**She didn't mind me being weird**

**Or how my eyes glowed purple when I was angry**

**I can't remember her name**

**I don't care whether people hate me or not**

**I am apart from all of them**

**They killed Esi**

**They deserve the same fate**

**I know I'm crazy**

**And I don't care**


	2. Chapter 2

**Day 2**

**Is it [day]?**

**It's always night when I'm awake**

Kurt Hunter closed the book and slid it into his inventory. He lived in a makeshift wooden house in the trees, and he still remembered the pain of punching trees to get wood. That always hurt.

He walked over to the hole in his floor and jumped down. The drop was almost five blocks, but he landed crouched and took no fall damage. Standing up, he stared straight into the eyes of an Enderman. It didn't attack, though; Kurt was one of them.

Kurt's eyes were purple, like they always were when he was angry. He'd been angry for four years. When Kurt spoke, it was in the harsh patterns of Enderman language. The language came easily to Kurt; he hadn't spoken in English in a long time.

"Any news of humans?" Kurt asked. The Enderman, one named Darker than day, shook it's head. Just then, a Creeper popped up next to the pair. Darker than day jumped back in surprise, but Kurt stood his ground, turning towards the Creeper.

"There's a human girl in the forest, Kurt!" the Creeper said chirpily. Kurt nodded, his expression becoming more focused. Any human who saw him noticed the cold, inhuman determination that had always been Kurt's trademark.

The Creeper led Kurt through the forest, chirping out details. "This human girl has a diamond sword! And I guess she's pretty, to you humans." All the mobs viewed Kurt as part human, and it had taken him a long time to gain their respect.

When they reached the edge of the clearing where the human girl was, the Creeper disappeared and Kurt almost gasped. It was the girl he'd been thinking about- the one who had been nice to him, only he couldn't remember her name. She was older now, fourteen like him, but it was the same person.

Still, Kurt's resolve didn't even flicker. He didn't have a weapon, but he didn't need one. He could deal damage with his bare hands, just like any Enderman, although he couldn't teleport.

The girl gave a scream when his fist struck her between the shoulder blades. She whipped around, bringing her sword -diamond, just like the Creeper had said- down towards his face. He grabbed the blade with one hand, ignoring the pain as it bit into his palm. He brought his other hand around in a fist, but she dodged the punch and grabbed the handle of her sword with both hands.

She tried to wrench it out of his grip, but he tore it out of hers instead. One hand on each end, the sword snapped like brittle spaghetti.

He saw the terror in her eyes, and something animal inside him roared in triumph. The girl turned, tried to run, but he caught her quickly, putting one arm around her neck, cutting off her air.

She struggled in his arms, but he only squeezed tighter, until there was a noise, and all the items from her inventory clattered to the forest floor; she would respawn in the village, no doubt really ticked off. He saw gunpowder and string amongst the items, and his eyes glowed brighter. She had been murdering his friends.

He paused, then pulled the book and quill out of his inventory.

**Friends? Is that right?**

**Yes**

**I like the mobs**

**They are like me**

**We understand each other**

**Friends**

**Like**

**Understand**

**So many unfamiliar words**

Kurt closed the book and put it back in his inventory. He walked in a random direction, thinking about the unfamiliar words. Friends. Like. There were others. Love. Family.

He stopped walking, as if he'd just come up against an invisible wall. Family. Kurt felt a strange sensation burning behind his eyes.

He only ever cried in the daytime, when he was usually fast asleep. And he'd only cried a couple times; those couple times was enough to remind him that for Endermen, water burns. Crying burned scars into his face, the pain ten times more than any fire could cause.

Then Kurt turned and walked in a different direction, forcing the pain beneath another layer of anger.


	3. Chapter 3

**Day Night 3**

**Can't forget that girl**

**Can't forget the word [family]**

**Am I trying to tell myself something?**

Kurt stared at the last sentence for a few moments, then put the book and quill in his inventory, not bothering to erase it. It was time to go hunting.

On the ground, Kurt asked Darker than day whether there was any news. The Enderman shook his head, then teleported off. Some nights were like that. No excitement, no trespassing humans. Kurt decided to go sit in a tree next to the only path through the forest. Maybe someone would come along.

When he finally reached the tree, Kurt found it easy to grab a leaf block and pull himself up onto the tree's top. When he'd first gone into the forest, he'd been weak and injured, and such a task would have been impossible. Now, he didn't even have to think about it.

Sitting in the tree and trusting his ears to tell him if anyone was approaching, Kurt pulled out his book and quill again. He didn't understand why he was writing any of this down, but his hand wasn't hurting quite so much any more.

**What would happen if I went back into town?**

**People would try to kill me**

**Or maybe they would run**

**Maybe they would be too afraid**

**That's why they tried to kill me and Esi**

**They were afraid**

**I like being alone**

**But sometimes it gets hard when my voice is the only one I can hear**

**Except for my comrades'**

Kurt paused, frowning at the last word. Comrades. He nodded slightly. That sounded better than friends. They were all close, but Endermen didn't have a word for 'friend'. It just didn't fit. They were all brothers, children of the Enderdragon.

Endermen didn't fall in love, either. Unless they were gay, because all Endermen were, well, men.

Kurt hesitated, then he put his quill to the paper again.

**Endermen do have feelings**

**They do fall in love**

**Only it has to be a special Enderman**

**A special girl**

**Like Mom and Dad**

**Fanny Hunter and ****Sky at night**

**They fell in love and had me**

**And Esi**

A sound reached Kurt's ears, and he hastily put his book and quill back into his inventory, crawling over the leaf blocks until he could see the path. The temporary, philosophical feeling he had felt while writing had evaporated, replaced by intense focus. He waited for the people -he had heard at least two of them- to come into sight, and when they did…

Kurt didn't move, frozen in place by the emotions colliding in his head. There was his Mom, Fanny Hunter, one of the only people he still loved…

And she was walking with Kave Baker, her nephew.

As they kept walking, Kurt started to shake. He felt blind rage, betrayal, disbelief, and above all that, the feeling that something was falling away, that now he was completely and truly alone.

They stopped walking a short way past where he lay in the tree, shaking with rage and betrayal and all the other emotions crowding into his head. What felt like hours later, they turned and went back the way they had come, back towards Bending River, the town Kurt hailed from. Fanny was crying into her hands, and Kave had one hand on her back, seemingly comforting her.

They walked out of sight, but Kurt still couldn't move, paralyzed in the tree. Slowly, he felt the burning feeling build up behind his eyes again, until a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Pain seared through his face, and it took all his willpower not to scream. He wiped the tear off, halving the pain and moving some of it to his hand. He sat there for a long time, until he found himself holding the book and quill, with no idea how they'd moved from his inventory to his hands.

He flipped the book open and picked up the quill.

**Kave killed Esi**

**What was Mom thinking why was she with him why did she do this**

Kurt took a deep shuddering breath, then started to write again.

**What was she doing?**

**He killed Esi**

**Why why why why why**

Kurt stopped again, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he found that his hand had written something of it's own accord, without him dictating the words now on paper in a script much more elegant than his child's scrawl.

**_Why did she betray me?_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Night 4**

**Must find out what was going on**

**Why did I write that without knowing?**

**How?**

**Must find out why she was with Kave**

**HE KILLED ESI**

Kurt put the book and quill into his inventory before he could put anything else down on paper. He felt angry, but that wasn't unusual. What was different was _who_ he was angry at, and _why_. And what else he felt. It was always just angry, never anything else, but this time, he was confused. The word "why?" kept bouncing around his skull, begging for an answer.

Kurt slid off the bed, and soon he found himself walking through the forest towards the same place. He didn't know why he'd walked by Darker than day without even asking if there was news, but tonight he was out of sorts. The mobs tended to give him space when he was out of sorts, because he had no misgivings about punching one of them when they got on his nerves.

As he lifted himself into the same tree, Kurt felt how cold it was. His breath made clouds in front of his face, and he felt cold beneath his black jacket. Kurt always wore black; it helped him blend in.

Apart from his pale skin and his eyes, Kurt disappeared in the darkness. This time, he blended in with the dark tree leaves, rubbing his hands together to keep his circulation going.

It was hours before anyone showed up. Hours spent lying in the tree, coldness seeping into his skin. After the long wait, Kurt was finally rewarded.

Kave Baker was alone this time, and he looked nervous. He kept glancing about him, like he expected to be attacked. He was wearing a fur jacket, something someone would wear farther north in the snow biome, and there were other subtle things that made him look not quite like Kave. The expression of disdain was gone, and he looked thinner, less powerfully built.

But no-one could look that much like Kave while being someone else. The same dirty-blond hair, the same dark eyes. Kurt took a moment to reflect how little he and Kave looked alike -Kurt's hair was black, and his eyes were only dark when he wasn't angry- but then Kave was past him, and the time had come to strike.

Kurt hit the ground behind Kave, and Kave, taken unawares by the attack, was on the forest floor before he knew what was happening. Kurt jumped on top of Kave, putting his hands around Kave's neck and tightening his grip until Kave started to turn blue.

The animal inside Kurt roared again as Kave struggled weakly. He leaned forwards, putting more pressure on Kave's neck, triumph surging through him.

Then someone else ran into view. "No! Kurt! Let him go!" Fanny shrieked. Kurt's head snapped up, but he didn't let go.

"Why should I?" Kurt growled in Enderman language.

Fanny sounded almost hysterical, but she managed to talk. "He's Kimon! He's not Kave- he's Kimon! They're twins!"

Kurt froze, caught off guard by the sound of his mother speaking his language. Of course she knew it -Endermen couldn't speak English- but it sounded alien to hear it coming out of her mouth.

Then what she said registered in his mind. Twins. Kurt slowly let go of Kimon's neck, although he didn't stand up or take his eyes off Fanny. Twins; he remembered now. Kimon and Kave were identical twins.

That made a lot of sense; it explained why 'Kave' had seemed different, and why Fanny had been with him. Kurt slowly stood up; Kimon lay there on the ground, trying to breathe. Kurt looked at him briefly, then looked away, at Fanny's face.

Fanny was crying, like she didn't believe that Kurt was still alive. She'd thought he was dead, after that night four years ago.

Finally, Fanny couldn't wait any longer; she threw her arms around Kurt's neck, hugging him tight. Kurt froze, then tentatively put his arms around her, as if the feeling was unfamiliar. Fanny cried into Kurt's jacket, but then one of her tears touched his skin and he pulled away suddenly.

Kurt put one hand to the side of his neck, fighting down the pain. It wasn't until he took his hand away that Fanny understood what had happened.

"I'm so sorry, Kurt." she said. "I forgot that that hurts for you."

It took Kurt too long to make sense of what she'd said. English felt strange to him, nowhere near as natural as Enderman language. But he understood.

"I… I'm alright." Kurt said, trying to twist his mind around the unfamiliar words, even though he knew they were a lie. Alright; that word had been a lie for four years.

Fanny asked where he lived, and if he could show them. As they walked, Fanny put her hand in Kurt's. The touch felt so alien, so unfamiliar, that he wanted to pull away.

But he didn't. He let her hold his hand, even though it made his heart pound, the animal inside him looking for a way to run. He felt lost, even though he was in his own forest, with a person he should have been close to.

Kimon followed behind, occasionally making noises like a wounded animal while he massaged his neck. He was a year older than Kurt; shouldn't he have been able to fight him off?

When they reached the tree Kurt lived in, Kurt dug his hands into the bark and climbed up with no problem, but Kimon had to lift Fanny up. When they were all inside, nobody said a thing. Kurt sat on the edge of his bed, his head spinning. Then he reached into his inventory and pulled out his book, hoping to make some sense of what was going on.

**Family is supposed to be good**

**So why do I feel lost?**

**When Mom hugged me I wanted to run**

**Family**

**Such an unfamiliar word**

Kurt paused writing. He could feel Kimon and Fanny staring at him, but he didn't look up.

**Kimon and Kave**

**Identical but so different**

**Why?**

Kurt closed his eyes, and when he opened them, there was more writing on the page; it was in the thick script that was so different from his normal writing.

_**These people are my family.**_

_**I can love them.**_

Kurt stared at the page, then at his hand, wondering how it could have written about such an alien concept. Then he paused, and wrote one more line.

**Maybe I can**


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I went back and added a bunch of things- Kurt now has synesthesia, so you might want to reread the first four chapters to find out what that is and how it affects his perception of English. Just saying.

* * *

**Day 5**

**Really is day**

**Mom and Kimon sleep at night**

**Not in the day like me**

Kimon gave Kurt a funny look as he put the book and quill in his inventory. "What are you writing?" Fanny looked at Kurt, too.

"It's just… everything." Kurt said.

"Can I see?" Fanny asked. Kurt hesitated for a long time, then gave her the book. Fanny sat down next to Kurt and started to read. Her eyes were full of tears when she was done. Kimon took the book and started to read, too, and when he was done, he gave it back.

"No offence, cousin, but that is really creepy." Kimon said. "Or are you just a lunatic?"

Kurt tasted the word 'lunatic' in his mouth. He'd almost forgotten about the mixed flavours of English words- anything he said in Enderman tasted hot and purple, while 'lunatic' was a sharp, sterile blue.

"Yes." Kurt said.

"Yes, you're creepy, or yes, you're a lunatic?" Kimon asked as Kurt put the book in his inventory.

"Both." Kurt said.

There was silence for a few moments. Kimon and Fanny were both a bit unnerved at Kurt's casual statement that he was insane. Neither of them doubted it, but it sounded, like Kimon said, really creepy.

"Kurt, we're going to go into Bending River today." Fanny said, smiling. Kurt's head snapped up, his eyes glowing brighter. They'd been flickering, as if he wasn't always angry, but now the glow was steady.

"No."

Fanny put her hands on her hips. "Yes we are, Kurt. I'm your mother, and your going to listen to me." Kurt clenched his hands into fists, and Kimon instinctively stepped between him and Fanny. Kurt didn't get up, though, managing to get himself under control.

"I won't go."

"Come on." Kimon said. "Don't leave me alone with your mom- what if we meet my family? They'll murder us." There was a pause, then Kimon said "We need you to protect us, man."

There was a long silence. "Fine." Kurt said. His eyes flickered, then the purple glow steadied. He and Kimon helped Fanny out of the tree house, then they started walking towards Bending River.

When they entered the town, Kurt couldn't help but notice the looks on people's faces. Shock. Fear. No, worse than that. Terror. And they were all looking at him.

The animal inside Kurt smiled smugly, and so did he. Nothing compared to the power he felt when he realized someone was afraid of him. And in this village, everyone knew who he was.

"Kurt Hunter, you complete bastard." a girl's voice said. Kurt turned around, and then he froze. It was the girl he'd seen in his forest the other night. The one who's name he couldn't remember. She had long, light brown hair, done back in a ponytail, and Kurt noticed that the Creeper had been right; she was very pretty. She didn't look like she cared much, though; she was wearing ratty boy's clothes, and no makeup.

Kurt nodded in greeting. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. The girl obviously didn't like him, and for the first time in his life…

He minded. For the longest time, he hadn't cared whether anyone hated him or not. But now this one girl didn't like him, and he felt… sorry? Sorry. Apologize. Those words tasted foreign- blazing white. They tasted _wrong_.

The girl took two steps forward and punched Kurt in the face, right in the bridge of his nose. He staggered backwards.

Kimon whistled. "Damn, Nina. What did he do?"

Kurt put one hand on his face, struggling to keep a lid on his anger. He didn't want to hurt the girl -Nina?- but at the same time, he wanted to kill her, and damn what the village people would do to him.

He was a little confused.

"This bastard killed me." Nina said, and the insult stabbed deep inside Kurt. He mouthed the word 'bastard' and winced; the word tasted blue and icy. People had been calling him a bastard since he was born, but this time it hurt. It really, really hurt.

"So? You respawn." Kimon said. Nina turned on him.

"What the hell are you doing with him?" she demanded. "And I don't think I said you were allowed to talk to me again!" Nina raised her fist, and Kimon stepped back, his mouth open.

"Uh. I'm not Kave?" he asked, raising his hands in front of his face.

Nina froze. "Kimon?" When Kimon nodded, Nina shook her head. "You are incredibly stupid to come back here." she turned slightly. "You too, Kurt Hunter. The Bakers will murder your asses."

"We'll do what?" a voice said behind them. All four of them froze -Nina, Kurt, Kimon and Fanny- and turned around slowly.

There was a pair of people standing there, quite obviously father and son, and both Kurt and Nina did a double-take, looking behind them to make sure that Kimon was still there.

It was eerie how much Kimon looked like his twin, but Kurt immediately saw a number of differences. Kave was more powerfully built, and it was obvious he hadn't been fighting just to eat, like Kimon and Kurt had- both of them had been living out of town, and it showed. Kave looked at both Kurt and Kimon with undisguised hatred; he and his father ignored Fanny and Nina.

Kimon swallowed. "Dad." he said tightly.

Mr. Baker's eyes narrowed. "You're no son of mine." he snarled.

"Hel-lo, Mr. Baker!" Nina said cheerfully. "They're with me, so we're just going to leave…" she tried to pull Kurt and Kimon back. Neither of them moved.

Mr. Baker glared at her. "And that makes it alright, Miss Dare?"

"Mm, hm." Nina said. "How's your arm? Healing alright?"

Mr. Baker flinched slightly, his expression only getting angrier. He said nothing, but Kave stepped forwards.

"You pair of bastards." he said, spitting on the cobblestones in front of Kurt. Immediately, Kurt's eyes glowed brighter. Both he and Kimon dove at Kave, both of them to angry for coherent thoughts.

Kurt wanted to give Kave a taste of what it felt like to be in an unfair fight, but Mr. Baker wouldn't allow it. Fanny was screaming at them to stop fighting, but no one did. Nina stood there, arms folded, wondering if she should help, and if so, _who_ she should help. Kurt and Kimon were giving as good as they got, sometimes better.

Then someone yelled "Stop!" It was a man dressed in police uniform, and Nina jumped in to help him break up the fight. Mr. Baker, Kimon and Kave all stopped, although that didn't stop them from staring daggers at each other. It took both the policeman and Nina to restrain Kurt. Finally, the policeman whacked him across the face with his baton.

Kurt saw stars, and found himself not fighting anymore. Nina and the policeman slowly let him go, and Kimon took a step away in case his cousin did something stupid.

"What the dickens is going on here?" the policeman demanded.

"They were insulted, Officer Sutton." Nina said, gesturing at Kurt and Kimon. "They had every reason to attack."

Sutton looked at the pair, then he did two double-takes; one, when he saw Kimon and glanced at Kave to make sure he wasn't seeing double, the second when he saw Kurt. Kurt's eyes were still glowing purple.

"You…?" Sutton stammered, then he composed himself. "Is your name Kurt Hunter, young man?" he demanded.

"Yes." Kurt said, not looking at the policeman. A moment passed, then Sutton grabbed Kurt by the arm.

"You're coming with me, boy." Sutton said, starting to drag Kurt away.

"What?" Fanny asked, sounding hysterical. "Why?"

Everyone, including Kurt, stared at her in disbelief. "You want to know why?" Kurt said. "Here's why." He yanked his arm out of Sutton's grip, then kicked the policeman between the legs. When Sutton doubled over, swearing, Kurt kicked him again- in the ribs, this time.

"Because I'm a freaking psycho!" Kurt said, kicking Sutton again. 'Psycho' felt familiar, tasting like a swirl of purple- and purple was a colour Kurt was definitely familiar with.

The policeman straightened up, the look on his face even angrier than before.

Nina and Kimon exchanged looks. Nina seemed shocked at Kurt's ready admission to insanity. Kimon was embarrassed. Yes, Kurt was unpredictable and actually had a reason to hate people in general -Kave hadn't been alone the night Esi Hunter had died- but did he have to act that violent?

As for Kurt, he had completely forgotten that anyone was watching. It had taken all his energy to not go crazy before now, and all his pent-up rage had come bursting out, directed at the unfortunate Sutton.

Sadly for Kurt, Sutton was still holding his baton, and Kurt received it full on the head.

* * *

"Nina, did you see the look on Kurt's face when he saw you?"

"He looked mighty confused."

"Uh, huh. I'd say my cousin is in love, although I don't believe he knows it yet."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah. Do you think we should get him out of that place?"

"What, you feel sorry for him?"

"Not really, but he's probably going to try and escape at some point…"

"And we don't want him killing people. Right. Even if they respawn and most of them deserve it."

"My thoughts exactly."

* * *

Kurt woke up on the floor of a cell. He could see perfectly in the darkness, only lightened by moonlight coming in through the window high up in the wall, and he pulled the book and quill out of his inventory, wondering why they hadn't taken it away.

**They've finally locked me up for murder**

**Do I mind?**

**I mind being locked up**

**But I'm not sorry**

There was a long pause, then Kurt kept writing, his movements hesitant.

**I can't stop thinking about Nina**

**Is this normal?**

**Am I going crazy?**

**More crazy?**

Kurt stopped writing, but when he looked at the paper a few moments later, there was one more line written down in the handwriting that was his, but yet not his.

_**Is this love?**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Night 6**

**Have been in here for a few hours**

**Am done swearing and kicking the walls**

**Must get out**

Outside the iron door, one of the guards paused. "Do you think he's still in there? He's been awfully quiet." they said. Another guard snorted.

"What, you think he's teleported or something? Relax, man." The guard resumed their pacing of the hall outside, and Kurt sighed, writing a few more sentences.

**Wish I could teleport**

**I can't**

**I wonder why**

Kurt put the book and quill in his inventory, then curled up into a ball, sitting against the cold wall, forcing himself to think his way through the situation. "You're a human, Kurt." he whispered, thinking out loud. "You can think."

Think. The word echoed in his mind, a dull, glowing pink that felt just as unnatural as the words 'thank you'. Kurt didn't know whether tasting words -and being able to describe them in colours- was a normal human thing, but he knew that unfamiliar words were the ones with the sharpest tastes.

Endermen didn't think much, since everything was a biological reaction. Kurt had the instincts to be an Enderman, but other humans could think, and he was at a disadvantage if he didn't.

There were new voices in the corridor, and Kurt froze. On the other hand, sometimes instincts were useful. The door handle started to turn, and Kurt leapt up, sliding into the corner near the door -the place that the door would be when it was open- right as the door was opened.

Someone walked in, and Kurt saw the dirty-blond hair in the light from the hallway. He crouched, but a second before he jumped, he froze. He thought before he attacked, if only for a split second, and when he did, he noticed that 'Kave' was wearing the fur jacket Kimon had been when Kurt had first seen him.

Kimon closed the door behind him. "Thanks for not attacking me." he hissed. "They all think I'm Kave and I'm here to take you to be…" Kimon swallowed. "They're going to hang you, cousin. I overheard it and they think I'm going to take you there."

Kurt's eyes narrowed. "I have to pretend to come quietly?"

Kimon shook his head. "Just pretend to be unconscious, alright?" Kurt hesitated, then reluctantly agreed. He was fighting with the animal inside him, which was telling him to fight. But for once, Kurt didn't listen.

"One second." he said, pulling out his book.

**I'm changing**

He put it away in his inventory, then let Kimon half-drag, half-carry him out the door. Kurt kept his eyes closed, because their glow would have given him away, and concentrated on staying as motionless as possible. It went against everything he believed in, but he managed. Right up until…

"What the Nether? Kimon!" Kave yelled. Kurt's eyes flew open and he regained his footing just as Kimon dropped him. They were in the front entrance to the place where Kurt was being held, mere feet away from freedom. Kave stood in the doorway, and the police officer at the desk was looking between him and Kimon, mouth open.

"Oh, damn." Kimon said in a small voice. He and Kurt were unarmed, but as they watched, a sword appeared in Kave's hand, pulled from his inventory.

"What the Nether? Which one of you is Kave?" the officer at the desk asked, standing up.

"Him! He's trying to help the bastard escape!" Kave and Kimon said at exactly the same time. In a flash, Kurt saw what his cousin was doing; if they could convince everyone that Kimon was Kave…

Kurt punched Kimon, right in the side of his head, holding back just enough that Kimon stayed conscious. He fell, and Kurt jumped on top of him. "You killed my sister!" Kurt shouted. "Die!" Then he looked up at Kave. "Come on, you dick; help me do him in!"

Kave must have thought that Kurt had finally snapped -although Kurt would argue that he'd snapped four years ago- because he took several steps forwards, aiming his sword at Kimon. The desk officer ran up, holding a baton. Soon, Kave was lying on the floor with a nasty bump on his head, out cold.

The desk officer pulled Kurt off of his cousin, and Kimon stood up, rubbing the side of his head and doing his best to keep a Kave-like expression on his face.

"Thanks. I'll take him from here- the bastard caught me by surprise." Kimon said, doing a fair imitation of Kave. He punched Kurt in the face, really hard.

Kurt fell to the ground, and Kimon picked him up, walking out the door. The desk officer followed, and Kimon saw several policepeople take Kave to the cell block.

Kimon waited until they were some distance away, in a dark street, before shaking Kurt slightly. Kurt opened one eye, then shut it again. Kimon was filled with relief that Kurt was only playing unconscious, although he wouldn't have felt guilty in the slightest if Kurt hadn't been. That punch had been revenge for a whole lot of injuries Kurt had inflicted on him.

Suddenly, the desk officer stopped walking. "I should get back to the station." he said apologetically.

"Yeah." Kimon said, unable to keep the smile off his face. "You should rescue Kave, too." Then he let go of Kurt and they both ran.

Kimon was laughing, almost hysterical, as they fled. "I can't believe we pulled that off!" he said. Anyone who'd been paying attention could have noticed that he wasn't acting like Kave, but none of the officers had been observant enough.

"Quiet down!" Kurt hissed. "Where are we going?" Instead of heading towards the forest, they were running deeper into Bending River.

"Nina's house!" Kimon hissed back. "She's in on this, too, although her parents took some convincing."

"What?" Kurt demanded. "But I want to go back to the forest!"

Kimon shook his head as they turned a corner. "It's almost daytime; we've got literally minutes. Come on!"

They turned down another side street, and Kimon skidded to a stop in front of a house with the lights on. He banged on the door, and seconds later it was opened by a woman who looked a lot like Nina. She motioned for them to come in, and when they did, Kurt asked-

"Where's Nina?"

The woman, Mrs. Dare, shrugged. "She went to see what would happen when Kurt didn't show up." she said. "At the place where he was supposed to… you know…"

Kurt nodded, standing in the entrance way. He had an uncomfortable feeling around his neck, right where the rope would have gone.

He realized that he was having another feeling, one best described as 'something should go here but I'm not sure what'. He frowned, and a pair of unfamiliar words came into focus. Manners. Thanks. Both a shocking, intrusive red.

"Thanks for letting us stay here." he said, almost to see how it felt. It felt strange, but even Endermen had manners, so not as strange as apologizing. Nina's parents and Kimon stared at him, stunned into silence.

"Wow." Kimon said, then he started to grin. "Think you could say sorry for nearly killing me?"

Kurt frowned at him. "Don't push your luck." he growled. Kimon sighed. Just then, the front door banged open.

"-And the charges weren't even murder or anything; they said he was being hanged for being a criminal against humanity-" Nina stomped in, her rant abruptly cutting off. "Hey. Glad to see you two made it here okay."

"Yeah. Um." Kimon said. Kurt said nothing, feeling rather uncomfortable. Not only was he in the house of someone he didn't know, but there was sunlight coming through the windows and he didn't especially like light-

"Wait a second." Kurt said. "Where's Mom?"

"She's upstairs, sleeping." Mrs. Dare said. "You two can go up there and sleep." Kurt wordlessly walked towards the stairs, but Kimon stayed behind.

"Thanks a lot, Nina. Most people wouldn't have helped us, especially since we're wanted for a whole lot of things, now…"

Nina shrugged and followed the pair of them upstairs. "Your mom's in the only spare bed." she whispered to Kurt. "You two are going to sleep on the floor." She didn't sound too unhappy about that.

The attic was dark, and there was a thump as Kimon tripped over the trapdoor at the top of the stairs. All three of them froze, but Fanny's gentle snoring didn't stop. Kurt could see the smile on her face, and he felt himself smiling too, although he didn't know why.

He knew that it hurt, though; just like the muscles in his hand, his smiling muscles hurt from lack of use.

Kurt and Kimon sat down on the floor as Nina crawled into her bed. There was silence for a long time, then Kurt asked in a whisper- "Nina, why did you help us?" Help. The word echoed, bright and yellow.

There was some rustling sounds from Nina's bed, then she whispered back. "Someone convinced me you weren't that bad a person." she said. "Or at least that you were worth saving."

Kimon had the grace to look embarrassed. Kurt found himself smiling again, although the curtains were drawn and only he could see. Kurt frowned, then pulled out his book and quill.

**Nina thinks I'm worth saving**

**Is this true?**

**Do I want to be saved?**

**Maybe I do**

**Maybe I'm willing to love people**

**Love is a green word**

**Artificial green**

**Bright green**

**Intrusive and unnatural**

Kurt paused for a second, then wrote something else.

**But to everyone else**

**Love is the most natural thing in the world**

He closed his eyes, then opened them to find that he'd written one more thing.

_**Why should I be any different?**_


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: Wow, this chapter was spectacularly long. I didn't plan for that to happen, but this is at least three or four times as long as chapter one from this story, and I think it's longer than the entirety of the first story I ever published. Anyway, if the length of this chapter surprises/inconveiniences/scares you, then sorry. And too bad, because it might happen again.

* * *

**Night 7**

**I need to ask whether tasting colours and sounds is normal**

**Maybe all humans are like that**

**Or maybe all Endermen- I never asked**

Kurt looked up to see the light peeking around the curtains start to fade. It was night now; he'd woken up before everyone else, instinctively waking up ready to chase intruding humans out of his forest. He'd been confused, not sure where he was, until he remembered.

Prison. Kimon rescuing him. Going to Nina's house.

Nina. Kurt whispered her name, tasting the bright, shining, forest green that came along with the word. Not all words had colours and tastes; most just tasted dull grey, apart from words that held special meaning to him, unfamiliar or otherwise. No name had ever had colour before, except Enderman names- those were always hot and purple, but that was because of the language, not the words.

Kurt shifted uncomfortably, and on the other side of the room, he heard someone else move. "Kurt?" Kimon whispered. "You awake too? It feels so weird trying to sleep during the day."

"It feels weird trying to sleep at night." Kurt said. Kimon moved again, then there was silence for a while. Until Kurt decided to go out on a limb and ask a question that had been bothering him for some time.

"Kimon, how can you tell if you're in love?"

Kimon said nothing, and after a few moments, Kurt realized that his cousin was smirking.

"You're making fun of me." he accused as quietly as he could.

"Sorry." Kimon said. "But I really don't know; it's probably different for everyone." Kurt sighed. This was clearly more complicated than he'd thought, with no real right answer. He sighed again.

Silence fell again, and Kimon was just drifting off to sleep again when someone knocked on the trapdoor. All four of them sat bolt upright, and Nina crawled out of bed as someone on the stairs called up "Nina? Could you let me in, please?" Nina had locked the trapdoor when they'd come up the previous night.

"I guess." Nina said. "What do you want, Dad?" She started to crawl over to the trapdoor, but Kurt reached out and put one arm in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. He gestured to one of his ears, then pointed at the trapdoor and the stairs behind.

Nina listened, wondering what Kurt was getting at. Then she heard the stairs creak- in multiple spots. She froze; there was more than one person on the stairs, and the second person couldn't have been Mrs. Dare, who had difficulty managing stairs at all.

Nina shot Kurt a look of fear, wondering who they were, why they were there, and how Kurt could have known. She gestured for everyone else to be quiet.

"I just need to talk with you for a bit." Mr. Dare said, and Nina caught the faintest of undertones to his voice. There was something he wasn't saying. Nina had never thought of her dad as a Baker Sympathizer, but she realized too late that his loyalties were in that direction.

"Sorry, Dad. I'm a little busy right now." Nina said, standing up. _We need to get out!_ she mouthed, and Kurt and Kimon both nodded. Kurt crept over to the slanted window above Fanny's bed. He pulled back the curtains as quietly as he could, but they still made sound as the metal rod rotated in it's holders.

The trapdoor shook as someone slammed into it. Fanny jumped and made a terrified squeak. Kurt threw aside any pretences of trying to stay quiet and swung the window open with a bang.

Kimon slid out first, managing to get his footing quickly on the stepped roof. Kurt and Nina helped Fanny out next, then climbed out themselves. The trapdoor shook again as they started to make their way along the steep, wooden-step roofs that ran across the row of connected houses.

Kurt struggled to fight off déjà vu. Climbing out the attic window was exactly the same way he and Esi had escaped four years ago, on that night when the Bakers and so many others had come to get them. Kurt could still remember the fear that had pounded through his body as he half-carried his little sister to what had eventually become her death.

But now Kurt was with other people. This time, it was his mother that he was trying to keep from tripping and falling off the roof. They heard a yell behind them, and Kurt looked back to see Mr. Baker standing in the attic window. As Kurt watched, he started to climb out the window, instead of returning to the ground like he had four years before.

Then Fanny gave a scream as she tripped and fell. She grabbed Kurt by one hand as she fell, but she was too heavy for him to pull up and he fell, too, onto his stomach. With one arm, he barely managed to keep himself from sliding off, but Fanny was holding on to his other arm, his grip the only thing keeping her from falling to the cobblestones below.

Kurt struggled to try and pull his mom up, even though there was no way he could do it one-handed. Fanny was a small person, but not _that_ small.

Kurt felt the edge of a sword press into the back of his neck and he froze, feeling terror for the first time in years. Not fear of whatever physical pain the sword-wielder could inflict on him, but fear of letting Fanny go.

He looked down, estimating the drop to be five or six blocks. For him, that would have been a risk worth taking -he could have walked away from that fall- but for someone older, like Fanny, it was a dangerous distance.

"Let go." Mr. Baker hissed. A small crowd had gathered, despite the late hour, and they could all see the tortured look on Kurt's face. None of them cared, though- he was just a hostile mob, a biological mistake. Who cared what he felt?

"No. I won't." Kurt said, as he slid a few more inches towards the drop. He made eye contact with Fanny, and was shocked to see her mouth the words _drop me_.

"No." Kurt whispered, feeling her try to let go of his hand. He squeezed tighter.

Fanny shook her head. _Drop me_, she mouthed again. _Drop me!_ Finally, she managed to slip her hand out of his, and Kurt grabbed at thin air as she fell towards the cobblestones. "No!"

He didn't see what happened to her, because Mr. Baker grabbed him by the back of his jacket and yanked him upright, turning him around. Kurt struggled in his grip, but Mr. Baker was older, and he had the weapon. Kurt felt the blade still pressing into the back of his neck, the pain getting sharper as Mr. Baker pressed harder.

"Die, Kurt Hunter." Mr. Baker whispered.

"Nina, I don't want you to get hurt- just please come here." Mr. Dare pleaded. Nina shook her head, taking a step backwards.

"Why do Kurt and Kimon have to die?" she asked, taking another step away as her father walked towards her, arms open. Nina couldn't take her eyes off Kurt, who was barely keeping Fanny from falling.

Suddenly, Kurt jerked forwards, as if he was trying to catch something. "No!" he shouted, and Nina's blood ran cold. She'd really liked Fanny, although she had suspicions that there was more to the woman than she expected; was this the woman who'd maintained an equal relationship with an Enderman? Or the woman who was broken because four years ago, her village had tried to execute her children?

Nina shook her head, turning back towards her father. "Do you really believe that they deserve to die? A woman and two teenage boys? Oh- and what about Esi Hunter?" Nina challenged. "I know where you were four years ago- don't try to pretend. I saw everything out my window."

Mr. Dare froze, as if Nina had slapped him. She continued, pressing her advantage even though it hurt to be doing this.

"I know why we moved- because you didn't want to live near the forest anymore. You didn't want to live near where it happened." Nina took a deep breath, letting everything she'd seen and heard about that night come out. "You helped kill a six-year-old girl! Half-Enderman or not, how was that right?"

Mr. Dare started to shake, and he turned away. Nina looked and saw Kurt struggling in Mr. Baker

's grip. She listened just long enough to hear Mr. Baker say "Die, Kurt Hunter," then she ran towards the fight.

Nina grabbed Mr. Baker's forearm just as he drew the blade back in preparation for striking. He looked surprised; he had been so focused on Kurt, so convinced that Mr. Dare could deal with his rogue daughter, that he hadn't considered her a threat.

Nina wrenched Mr. Baker's arm away from Kurt, deliberately putting pressure on the bone she'd broken a few months ago in her first-ever encounter with the police and Mr. Baker. They were almost the same thing; Mr. Baker was technically a civilian, but he had the town of Bending River in the palm of his hand, which was why only Kurt was arrested that other day.

Mr. Baker yelled, and in that moment of pain, he relaxed his grip just enough for Kurt to get out. Kurt backed away, standing next to Nina, as Mr. Baker raised his sword again. Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt saw Mr. Dare turn around again, wielding a sword but looking decidedly nervous about it.

"Fight or flight?" Nina asked as they backed up slowly. Nina knew that they were more evenly matched than spectators might have thought; the precarious footing and their natural agility made up for the fact that they were unarmed. Their opponents would have trouble fighting on the slanted ground -in the dark, no less- and if they fell, it would take them a long time to recover. Kurt and Nina could probably walk away from a fall, although it depended on how they landed.

"Where's Kimon?" Kurt asked, looking behind him.

"He ran!" Nina said. Kurt's face tightened, and his eyes glowed a bit brighter.

"Fight." he said, just as Mr. Dare aimed a sword thrust at his head. Kurt ducked, then grabbed Mr. Dare's arm, pulling him off-balance.

"Don't hurt him!" Nina shouted as she dodged a sword swing from Mr. Baker. She stepped out of the way, then stared as Mr. Baker walked past her, intent on reaching Kurt, who had Nina's father in a headlock.

"Kurt!" Nina shouted, diving at the backs of Mr. Baker's legs. His knees buckled under the force of Nina's tackle, and he fell. Nina hesitated, then gave him an extra shove, pushing him off the roof.

Kurt's eyes were flickering, something that happened when he was unsure of what he was going to do. Nina walked up to him and pulled him away, starting to run down the stepped roofs again. "Come on!" she said, her hand remaining on Kurt's shoulder a split second longer than was necessary.

Kurt only held back slightly before following, and as they ran, Nina occasionally stumbling in the dark and Kurt always reaching out to steady her, Kurt's thoughts returned to Fanny and Kimon.

Kimon had run, and Fanny had fallen. Kurt knew that she wouldn't have died from the fall, but what had happened to her after that?

Kurt felt sick, and he wondered why. This feeling of caring about someone wasn't as unfamiliar as it used to be, but he hadn't expected that _worry_, another strange word, would actually cause him physical pain.

It was then that revelation struck Kurt. In Endermen, everything was a biological reaction- hunting, fighting, any feelings they had for a fellow Enderman who had died. Why wouldn't humans have similar reactions to the same and different feelings? Kurt remembered Darker than day saying that he'd felt ill when one of his close friends hadn't returned from a foray into Bending River, and although Endermen didn't have words to describe that -they never needed to- Kurt now knew exactly what he meant.

_Maybe humans and Endermen aren't as different as we pretend,_ Kurt thought. Nina stumbled, and Kurt grabbed her wrist to keep her upright.

"Thanks." she said.

There was a pause. "You're welcome." Kurt said. Nina said nothing; to her, what was an unnatural phrase to him was simply common courtesy. _On the other hand, maybe there are differences; ones I should probably relearn,_ Kurt grudgingly admitted.

"You can let go now."

Kurt looked down and realized that he was still holding Nina's wrist. He let go hurriedly, feeling his face start to turn red.

Then they reached the end of the row of houses, sparing Kurt any further embarrassment. They both jumped, Nina twisting her ankle, Kurt landing neatly. They started to run, sprinting through the darkened streets towards the forest; by some unspoken consent, they knew that that was where they were going.

Kurt felt guilty about leaving Fanny behind; 'guilt' was a dirty brown, and tasted like a mouthful of damp leaves.

Finally they reached the forest, and they were lucky to not encounter anyone on the way. "Where are we going?" Nina asked as she followed Kurt.

Kurt felt his human side slipping away as they walked into the forest, his Enderman side taking over. The few human traits he'd picked up suddenly felt as alien as the brighter, sharper-tasting words.

"My home." he said, struggling to make it come out in English. The animal inside him, which had been sleeping for what felt like so long, wanted to know what he was doing with this girl, letting her in his forest, no matter how cute she was.

"Are you alright?" Nina asked nervously. She could feel something about Kurt changing; he'd seemed so… so _human_ when she'd told him off for holding her hand, blushing just like a normal boy. But now, she could feel his human-ness leaving, and she was very much hoping he wouldn't attack her.

_I bet most girls don't have to deal with this from boys who have crushes on them_, Nina thought with a sigh. _They just flirt and watch the boys make fools of themselves. Here I am, hoping the guy who likes me doesn't kill me…_

Suddenly, it struck Nina how funny this was, and she started to laugh. Kurt jumped, looking at her like she was from outer space, but she couldn't stop. Doubled over with laughter, Nina tried to stop laughing long enough to breathe. It didn't work.

Kurt watched Nina with an almost distracted look on his face. The animal inside him was screaming for him to attack, and his human side was yelling "No!" at least as loud, fighting to keep him from doing something he would regret later.

Kurt pulled out the notebook, hoping that writing would help him make a little sense of the conflicting emotions inside his skull.

**Nina is in my forest with me**

**I invited her in here but it still feels wrong**

**Like everything human in me that I collected in Bending River is draining away**

**Like I'm becoming less human**

**More Enderman**

Kurt looked up, giving Nina another quizzical look, which only made her laugh harder. When he looked back down, there was a question written in the book that shocked him out of his internal battle, at least for a few moments.

_**Who says I can't be both?**_

Kurt stood there, staring at that sentence, until he was startled out of his thoughtfulness by an Enderman -Darker than day- appearing next to him. He hurriedly put the book away in his inventory.

"We have found a human boy. He claims to be a friend of yours, although he is remarkably similar to your brother's murderer." Darker than day said. He meant 'sister', but Endermen always used male pronouns- words for 'sister' and 'she' simply didn't exist in that language.

Kurt groaned. "He is a friend- he's my cousin, and unlike with Kave, I'm willing to admit we're related. Tell me you didn't kill him, Brother." That was simply the way Endermen addressed each other, even though it wasn't really accurate in Kurt's case. Kurt felt the hot, purple taste of the Enderman language fill his mouth, feeling odd after the dull grey taste of human speech.

"No, he's still alive, although he's swearing and crying." Darker than day said, looking a bit sheepish, which was quite an accomplishment for an Enderman. "Actually, the crying is the only reason we didn't kill him right away- you know how water hurts."

Kurt nodded, and Darker than day started to walk away, presumably in the direction Kimon was in. After a few steps, however, the Enderman froze.

"Is he with you?" the Enderman asked, gesturing at Nina. Kurt nodded, not bothering to give an explanation. Darker than day hesitated, then kept walking. Kurt and Nina followed.

"What was that about?" Nina hissed, sounding a bit scared. It was one thing to know that Kurt was half-Enderman, but it was another to hear Enderman sounds coming out of his mouth.

"The Endermen found Kimon." Kurt said, struggling to make it come out in English. It had been a challenge to ask Darker than day not to kill Kimon, and Kurt's internal war showed no signs of letting up. "He's crying pretty bad, apparently, which is why he's not dead yet."

Nina laughed, and just for a moment, Kurt felt himself calm down inside. Kurt's human side, the part almost independent of his consciousness, grabbed onto that feeling with both hands, trying to make it last. It was like holding onto smoke, though- all too quickly, it went away.

_Is this love?_ he thought. _When someone can make me feel human?_ It was so confusing.

Up ahead, Kurt heard someone crying. He started walking faster, finally entering a clearing. Kimon was sitting on the ground, crying and swearing -obviously at the end of his sanity- and there were quite a few Endermen standing around the edges of the clearing, watching Kimon with amazed bewilderment.

"Are you alright?" Nina asked, not really believing that Kimon, who was not only the identical twin of Kave Baker but a full year older than her and Kurt, was that broken.

Kimon looked up in shock, then leapt to his feet and ran over. Kimon grabbed Kurt in a tight hug, finally giving up attempts to speak even semi-coherently.

"Ow! Damn it!" Kurt shouted, pushing Kimon off. Nina looked at him in shock; she'd seen Kurt get all tense when Kimon had hugged him, but she hadn't expected him to react so violently.

"Ow… second time in a week someone's hugged me while _crying_…" she heard Kurt mutter, through clenched teeth.

Kimon tried to apologize, but Kurt didn't listen. "I can deal, man." he said abruptly, turning away and starting to walk off. "Come on."

Kimon and Nina followed Kurt, some ways behind their friend.

"I- I can't hug you, can I?" Kimon asked Nina. Nina looked at him funny.

"That would be pretty creepy." she said. "And why are you so… not holding it together very well? And why did Kurt… Oh." Nina finally made the connection. "He gets hurt by water? Just like an Enderman? Wow."

"Yeah." Kimon said, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "And I'm…" Kimon sniffed. "It was just so _scary_, finally realizing that my dad wanted to kill me… On top of- on top of everything else…" Kimon started crying again, and Nina fell behind to give him some space.

Finally, they reached Kurt's tree house. Nina refused Kimon's offer of help and climbed up the tree by herself. She found Kurt's house almost obsessively neat, something she hadn't expected, with two spare beds set up, aside from the one where Kurt was curled up under his blankets, watching them.

"Fanny and I stayed here last… no, two nights ago." Kimon wiped his nose again. "We stayed at your house last night."

Nina nodded and got into one of the beds, while Kimon crawled into the other.

Kurt watched them- still struggling with the emotions inside him, he wasn't sure whether it was safe to let them stay in his house. The last thing he wanted was to hurt his friends.

Kurt froze. Friends? Somehow, the sky-blue word didn't feel unnatural when he described Kimon and Nina, in spite of how confused he was. It felt… right.

Kurt pulled out his notebook.

**I'm definitely changing**

**It feels right calling Kimon and Nina friends**

**I'm still all confused inside**

**It's like my human side and Enderman side are fighting**

**Fighting over which one I get to be**

This time, Kurt was watching as he wrote something without thinking about it- he watched his own hand write a sentence, that echoed more certainty than he had felt since Fanny and Kimon had shown up in his forest.

**_I can be both._**


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: Here we go with another super long chapter! I'm not sure what's gotten into me, but long chapters are fairly nice, don't you think? Not a lot of action in this chapter.

* * *

**Day 8**

**Done hiding**

**Going to rescue Mom**

**Going to go into Bending River**

Kurt paused.

**More afraid than I want to admit**

**Will do it anyway**

Kurt put the book away in his inventory and stood up. The sun shining through his windows made his eyes hurt a bit, and he'd only gotten a few hours of sleep, but he was feeling the rush of adrenaline he got when he was tracking something down.

"Where are you going?" Nina asked, looking up from her hunting through Kurt's chest. She was trying to find something edible; Kimon had given up and gone hunting a few minutes before, while Kurt was still writing.

"Into town. I'm going to find Mom." Kurt said, walking over to the hole in his floor and crouching, ready to jump.

"What? Are you serious? They'll murder you!" Nina said, getting to her feet.

The animal inside Kurt growled, baring it's fangs, and he gave a tight smile. "I hope they try." he said, jumping through the block-wide space in his floor. He landed crouched, then straightened up and started walking in the direction of town.

Kurt tried to figure out why he was frightened; he hadn't been scared that last time he'd gone into Bending River. He was almost at the entrance to town when he realized; he hadn't been even half human that last time. His mind had been almost all Enderman- and Endermen don't get scared, as a matter of principle.

Kurt stopped walking, closing his eyes. His eyes had been dim, sometimes flickering back to the black they used to be, but now Kurt stirred up the familiar feelings that made his eyes glow.

Kurt made himself angry.

And then his Enderman side took over, and the fear went away, crowded out. Kurt tried his best to keep his human side awake, though; Endermen don't think, and he needed to keep himself thinking.

People stared at him as he walked into Bending River. They were just as afraid as last time, but this time they weren't paralyzed- they whispered, glancing at him to make sure that he couldn't hear them. That was enough to make his eyes glow brighter, bringing back all the familiar feelings.

No, not all of them. Just inside, there was a small portion of his human self, holding on in the flood of Enderman emotions. And that human part kept the rest of him in check, letting him think his way through this.

How was he going to find Fanny? Bending River wasn't a big place, but it was big enough for any kind of search to take days. He would have to find someone to tell him where she was.

Kurt walked into the market square, and even though it was crowded, he didn't have to push his way through; people moved out of his way, not wanted to be anywhere near him.

Kurt smiled. That only scared people more. Then Kurt froze, his eyes narrowing. He saw someone, and that person had been there when Fanny had fallen off the roof.

Not Mr. Baker- Nina's father.

Mr. Dare was facing away, looking at something on a market stall, unaware of what was happening. Kurt tapped him on the shoulder, then stood there, arms folded, as Mr. Dare took his time turning around.

"Where's my mom?" Kurt asked, almost in a growl, as Mr. Dare saw his life flash before his eyes. The market was completely silent, as everyone watched the pair of them.

"I- I don't know." Mr. Dare stammered, taking a step backwards, right up against the stall. Nina's father was not a particularly strong-willed man, and Kurt's glare was unnerving. "We- we went back, but she wasn't there. Som- someone must've taken her a- away or- or something." Kurt took a step forwards, grabbing Mr. Dare's forearm. Nina's father tried to pull his arm away, knowing full well that Endermen could deal damage with their bare hands, but was unsuccessful.

Then someone screamed "No!", their voice echoing throughout the packed market. Nina pushed her way through the crowd, running up to Kurt and smacking him on the back of his head. "Don't hurt him!"

Kurt slowly let go, turning to face Nina. The crowd took a collective breath, some people taking a step back. Kurt's face was hard to read, his expression flickering between anger and confusion. Nina folded her arms across her chest, glaring at Kurt.

"He's telling the truth- I can tell." Nina said. "So don't. You. Dare." Her voice became a snarl.

Kurt balled his hands into fists, trying to keep control of himself. Then he turned and ran from the marketplace, wanting to get away from that place, away from Nina and Mr. Dare, as quickly as he could.

It was several minutes before he stopped running, when he realized he was in a dead end, the end of the street blocked by the same yellow stone that the houses were built out of. Kurt clenched his hands into fists again, and a few moments later he slammed one of his hands against the wall blocking his path.

"Ow." Kurt whispered, holding onto his hand. "Ow."

When the pain of punching a stone wall subsided, Kurt started to think a bit more clearly. Why had he run? Because he didn't want the chance to let himself hurt Nina. Because any other reaction involved hitting someone. Because he was confused.

"Everything's bloody confusing." Kurt whispered, shaking his throbbing hand. "Why can't we react some way _besides_ running or hitting something?"

"Do you refer to yourself using plural pronouns a lot?" a voice asked, and Kurt looked up. Standing at the nearest intersection, not too far away, was a man. He had brown hair, and he didn't sound unfriendly, just curious and a little nervous. Kurt thought he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where from- the only place he could think of would have been the night Esi had died. Had this man been in the mob?

Kurt growled, half-crouching into some semblance of a fighting stance. The man, who had been walking slowly towards Kurt, stopped, obviously a bit spooked.

"Kurt." the man said, raising his hands in front of him to try and calm him down. "It's me." Kurt's eyes narrowed, trying to place the man's face. "Don't you recognize me?" the man asked, looking confused and a bit scared. "It's Mike."

Mike. All at once, the memories came back to Kurt, ones that he'd forgotten and ignored while he'd lived in the forest. His Uncle Mike, Fanny Hunter's younger brother.

Kurt straightened up, no longer hostile but not relaxed, either. Mike took another step closer, and when Kurt didn't respond, he approached. "You're looking for Fan?" he asked. There was a pause, then Mike shook his head slightly. "Your mom?"

"Yeah." Kurt said, examining Mike's face. Fanny was a small woman, a few inches shorter than Kurt, but Mike was a full head taller.

"She's at my place." Mike said. "That was some stunt you and your friends pulled last night." He paused. "What were you doing hanging out with Kave Baker and the Dare girl? And why were John and Kans -er, Mr. Dare and Mr. Baker- trying to kill Kave?"

"Not Kave." Kurt said suddenly. "Kimon."

"Oh…" Mike said, a figurative light turning on in his head. "Kimon? Wow." He shook himself slightly. "Come on, kid. Let's go."

* * *

The market was quiet- not as quiet as while Kurt had been there, but still- quiet. Nina and her father stood in exactly the same places they had been in when Kurt had stormed out a few moments ago, neither of them saying a word.

Finally, Mr. Dare took a deep breath. "Why, Nina? Why did you run off with those two?" he asked.

Nina chose her words carefully. "Because I don't believe they deserve to die." she said. "And because Kans is a…" she paused, feeling an insult on the tip of her tongue but knowing saying it would be a bad idea. "…disturbed individual."

Mr. Dare sighed, pain showing on his face. "Nina, I thought I raised you better than this…" he said, his voice trailing off.

"What do you want me to do?" Nina asked.

"I want you to listen to me." Mr. Dare answered.

"I'll do that, but only-" Nina took a step forwards. "-if you listen to me in return. We need to talk to each other, hear each other out. I…" Nina sighed, wilting a little. "I don't want to lose you, Dad, but all this, all the stuff the Bakers believe about Kurt… it's all just _wrong_."

"We do need to talk," Mr. Dare said slowly. "but-"

"Dad, save it until we're somewhere private, okay?" Nina asked. "How about we go home? I might leave again, but I promise I'll stay long enough to hear you out. Would that be okay?"

Mr. Dare hesitated, then nodded. He and his daughter started walking, and neither of them said a word until they were back at their house. As they were walking, Nina looked up at the section of roof that she and Kimon and Kurt had escaped along, just last night. It suddenly it felt so odd to be returning home, as if that hadn't happened.

Inside, silence reigned as they stood in the front entrance, unsure of whether to continue on in, or to have their conversation right there. Nina heard the hall floor creak, and then her mother's head appeared around the doorframe.

"Nina!" she gasped. Then she walked in to the room, her face showing a startling combination of relief, disappointment and rage. She raised one finger and pointed it in Nina's face. "What did you think you were doing, bringing those two into our house! You have endangered everyone in here, including yourself!"

"Mom, Kurt and Kimon like me- they don't hurt me." Nina said, holding up her hands as if to keep her mother's rage away, but Mrs. Dare was not placated.

"Kurt Hunter is a danger to society! He's fighting with the hostile mobs- killing villagers!" Mrs. Dare shouted.

"Only when they trespass in the forest." Nina said, partially amazed at herself for coming to Kurt's defence.

"He killed _you_ when you went in the forest!"

"I wasn't supposed to be in there. I kind of deserved it." Nina said, at which point her mother started shouting again, this time not allowing any opportunity for explanation. Mr. Dare stood behind his wife, looking a bit apologetic.

Then there was a knock on the door, and they all froze. The person pounded on it again, and this time Nina heard someone mutter "C'mon, Nina- answer the damn door…"

"Kimon!" Nina said, startled. Mrs. Dare looked outraged, and stormed over to the door, throwing it wide open. Kimon stood there, frozen mid-knock. He lowered his hand, then took a deep breath.

"What the Nether!?" he demanded, half-yelling at Nina. "You and Kurt both took off without me- you didn't even leave a note! What was I supposed to think, coming back to find that you two'd run off together?"

Nina felt her face start to turn red. She wasn't sure what Kimon was suggesting, but it was obvious that he'd thought she and Kurt had been doing something inappropriate. Nina opened her mouth to reply, but her mother wouldn't allow it. Kimon had been shouting over Mrs. Dare, but at that moment, she picked up the broom that was usually propped next to the door. Nina winced; she knew what was coming.

"Ow! Ow, damn it! Get off me!" Kimon yelled as Mrs. Dare hit him with the broom. She whacked him, forcing him backwards. Kimon, holding his arms over his head, turned to run-

And fell down the few stairs that led up to Nina's front door. Kimon heard people laughing as he lay there in the dust, trying to get his breath back. He rolled over onto his back to see Mrs. Dare standing in the doorway, wielding the broom.

"And don't you _dare_ come back!" she screeched, before slamming the door. Kimon groaned, getting up even though he hurt all over; between Mrs. Dare's broom and the fall down the stairs, he'd gotten enough bruises to last him a long time.

Kimon looked around guiltily; he was likely to get injuries much more severe than bruises if he encountered his father and twin. The longer he stayed in Bending River, the more likely it was that he was going to run into them, and he didn't like his chances. His best chance if he did meet them was to run, but that wasn't going to work very well if they had most of the town on their side.

Kimon shook the dirt out of his jacket then walked off, back the way he'd come. _Kurt had better have a good explanation for this…_ he thought grumpily.

* * *

Kurt waited, arms folded, as Mike fumbled with the key. They were alone in the dry street, and Kurt wondered if that was because of him. Kurt wondered if he'd ever feel guilty about the fact that everyone in Bending River was afraid of him. Probably not, he decided; he really didn't like people, so it was a good idea for them to keep their distance, anyway.

Finally, Mike unlocked the door and walked in with Kurt following behind. It was dark inside, and the floor creaked loudly under their feet.

Kurt smiled slightly and took another step- his movements were completely silent. It was Mike that was making all the noise. Kurt's smile grew broader; there were advantages to being half-Enderman.

Mike led Kurt down the hallway, to where Kurt could see that a light was on. Mike walked into the room and sat down at the table, saying "I found him- the kid punched a stone wall like he was throwing a tantrum. The kid never did learn that stone hurts when you hit it."

The other man at the table grunted in response. He was older, with white hair, and his nose was crooked like he'd broken it at some point. The third person at the table was Fanny; she and the older man were playing cards.

Kurt felt a little odd being referred to as 'the kid'- it made him feel younger, like he was back in time before Esi had died. He felt so small.

"Well come on, boy." the older man said indignantly. "Are you going to sit down, or are you going to just stand there acting like an empty-headed ninny?"

"You're one to talk, Gramps." Kurt said, the going-back-in-time feeling intensifying as he walked forward and sat down in one of the chairs. "I haven't forgotten how you burned the turkey on Midwinter's Eve."

Kurt's grandfather snorted. "You're too smart for your own good, boy." he said, half in a growl. Then he made a face. "Hate to admit it, but I've missed you, this past four years. It's been hard on your old man, Kurt. One of my daughters dead, the other run away to who-knows-where, my only granddaughter dead and my favourite grandson off in the forest with the Endermen."

"I was up north, living with Kimon." Fanny said. "And Reyna's been gone for-" Fanny's voice cracked slightly. "-for nearly ten years." She smiled at Kurt. "Hey." she said softly. Kurt nodded, smiling slightly.

"You didn't mention Kimon or Kave." Kurt said. "They're you're grandsons, too, right?" Kurt felt a shiver run up his spine, and he glared at the table, irrationally angry with himself for admitting that he was related to the Bakers.

"Never liked the Bakers." Kurt's grandfather said grouchily. "Wish Reyna'd never gone off with that Kans Baker. Really sad to say it, but you're the best of 'em, Kurt."

"Kimon's not bad at all- you know he isn't." Fanny said. "He saved my life, too- I went up north because I knew he lived there, but I was freezing to death when he found me." Fanny sighed. "Freezing to death and crying my eyes out."

"Kurt." Mike said slowly. "I've been meaning to ask you a question." Mike asked it carefully, as if he wasn't sure that Kurt wouldn't go psycho and attack him. "What happened to Esi's body? She couldn't respawn, so it wouldn't have disappeared…"

"I buried her." Kurt said, refusing to take his eyes off the table. "Some of them wanted to burn our bodies, but then they laughed and said that the mobs could have us." Kurt's voice was monotone; he was trying not to let his memories take over. Just on the edge of his awareness, he could feel the echo of the pain from that night- not only the injuries he'd gotten from fighting, but the tears burning into his face. Kurt narrowed his eyes, glaring at the surface of the table.

There was silence for a few moments, then Mike coughed. "Dad, are you done with the cards? How does everyone feel 'bout a game of Aces Are Creepers?"

Kurt smiled, his human side feeling amused as the animal inside him sat up, begging. "Nether yeah." Kurt said. "But I'm still going to kick your asses."

* * *

Kimon took a right turn, glaring at each passing pedestrian as if they were personally responsible for him being this lost. It had been _hours_ -it was nearly noon- since he'd started looking for Kurt, and on top of having a bad night's sleep, he'd been hit with a broom and pushed down a set of stairs. Kimon was not having a good day.

He couldn't help but notice that people were avoiding him and looking really scared whenever he looked at them. With the sour look on his face, he could very well have been Kave. Kimon always had trouble understanding why it was so hard for people to tell him and his twin apart, but he _could_ use it to his advantage. If they thought he was Kave, then maybe they wouldn't turn him in.

Kimon took another right turn, onto yet another dry, empty street. He thought he heard someone behind him, but he ignored it.

Then something hard collided with the back of his skull, and he blacked out. Right before everything went dark, Kimon caught a brief glimpse of someone who looked too much like him for it to be anybody but his twin…

* * *

Nina tried to protest, but the trapdoor was closed and locked from the other side. Nina heard her father go back down the stairs, and she groaned. Outside, the light was rapidly fading, and Nina wondered where Kimon and Kurt were. They'd probably found each other and were hanging out somewhere, waiting for her.

Nina entertained a brief fantasy that involved Kurt coming to rescue her from her wrongful imprisonment, then snorted, laughing at herself. She didn't need Kurt to escape from her own bedroom; she'd just go out the window again.

Out on the roof, Nina tried to walk confidently, like she had every right to be up there. It wasn't easy, because she had to be very careful not to fall, and it was hard to stride confidently when you were watching where you put your feet.

She soon ended up on the ground, and from there went right back to Kurt's house. Being in the forest alone made her nervous, but Kurt must have told the mobs to stay away from her, because she wasn't bothered.

Standing in Kurt's house, Nina started to get a little worried. It was well past nightfall, and neither Kurt or Kimon had returned. Sighing, Nina slipped out the hole in the floor, falling to the ground. She landed badly, but her ankle didn't hurt too much, so she just kept walking.

She hoped very much that Kurt hadn't been stirring up any trouble. He could be amazingly belligerent in the worst possible way, and she didn't want to have to rescue anybody.

* * *

Sitting at the table, Kurt realized that he should probably be leaving, since Nina and Kimon would probably be getting worried about him. Fanny, still recovering from her fall off the roof, would be staying with her brother and father- who had both been in the crowd when the incident had occurred.

Kurt smiled slightly, then pulled out his notebook.

**Family**

**That word feels good now**

**Friends**

**That word too**

**Family- Mom and Mike and Gramps**

**Friends- Kimon and Nina**

**I guess Kimon's both**

**I'm human now**

**My Enderman side is sort of hiding**

**Maybe the secret isn't to be both at once**

**But to switch between them**

**I'll give that a try**

**Everything is alright right now**

**I wonder how long it will last**

* * *

Author's note: Like I said, not a whole lot of action. Except for the incident with Kurt and Mr. Dare- and Kimon getting hit with the broom. I'm not super happy with this chapter, but that might be in part due to how late it is right now. Bye, and hope you're getting more sleep than I am.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Another long chapter, although this one's even longer... Anyway, I need to say something. This morning I realized something that shocked me a bit: I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS STORY ENDS. Huh.

* * *

**Night 9**

**Should get back in the forest**

Kurt closed his book and stood up. He waved politely, but a friendly goodbye would have been beyond his capabilities; the longer he stood there, the more the feeling built up inside him. Some part of him was protesting against the good feelings, and as Kurt left the room, he felt it all boiling up, barely contained. Finally, he let it out, slamming one of his hands into the wall in the hallway.

It was flowing throughout his consciousness now; his Enderman side screaming for the familiar feelings, wanting to be back in the forest -alone- where he belonged. That lonely, driven state of mind that Kurt had been in for four years- his Enderman side wanted all that back. _He_ wanted all that back.

For a few moments, standing in Mike's hallway, Kurt was the same person who he had been since Esi died -cold, heartless, as violent as any hostile mob- and he realized that he was always going to be that person, deep inside…

Then the kitchen door opened, and Mike stepped into the hallway. "Kurt, are you alright?" he moved to put a hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Kurt said through clenched teeth. Mike froze, then slowly took his hand away, wondering what had gotten into Kurt.

"What's going on?" Mike asked slowly. "Are you okay?"

"I think this is what humans call an identity crisis." Kurt said, glaring at the wall. Inanimate objects were less annoying. "I'm suddenly having a _lot_ of trouble being human." Then Kurt left, slamming the front door behind him.

Outside, night had fallen, and Kurt tried to relax. He felt almost dizzy, nearly seeing double as his Enderman side fought for control of his mind. Slowly, he started to walk in the direction of the forest, hoping that the familiar surroundings would clear his mind.

He was in the market square, now dark and empty, when Nina's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Kurt! Have you seen Kimon?" Nina asked from across the square.

Nina's voice startled Kurt, and he instinctively crouched into a fighting stance. As he fought against his Enderman side, trying to stand up and calm down, Nina walked over.

"Kurt, have you seen Kimon? He's not back at the tree house, and I haven't seen him since this morning." Nina's voice didn't give any indication that she thought something was up. _Of course_, Kurt realized, _Nina can't see in the dark._

"No. I haven't seen him since I left the forest this morning. He'd left to go hunting, right?" Kurt asked, trying to keep any sign of his identity crisis out of his voice. He didn't know why, but he didn't want to let Nina know about that.

"Yeah, and he showed up at my house a while after that… incident in the market. My mom chased him off with a broom; I didn't even get to apologize for us running off." Nina said. Then she sighed. "We'd better split up to look for him." she said. "Although just two of us won't cover ground very fast."

Kurt frowned. "I think I know someone who can help." he said tentatively, although every cell in his body was screaming that they didn't need help, that they could do it all alone. Kurt chose to ignore those thoughts for once, although it felt so unnatural.

"Who?"

"My uncle."

Nina looked surprised. "An Enderman?"

Kurt paused, then shook his head. "I could probably get them to help," he said slowly. "but if Kimon looked in their eyes they'd kill him. Other side of the family."

* * *

Mike peered into the darkness. He couldn't shake off the persistent feeling that someone was watching him.

He sighed, looking around him as he walked down the street. Kurt had asked for his help to look for Kimon, who was MIA, but in truth, Mike hated being out at night. He was terrified of the dark and anything that lived _in_ the dark, even though Fanny and Kurt could probably negotiate him a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card with the mobs…

Mike stopped, an interesting idea coming into his mind. 'Things that lived in the dark' included _Kurt_, and he wasn't afraid of Kurt.

Well, not really. Mike was still confused over what had happened in his hallway, how Kurt had seemed different… or maybe he had been different before, when he was being friendly, and then he'd just gone back to being the same…

Mike continued along, trying to decide whether he was afraid of Kurt or not, and had just decided on 'yes' when there was a flicker in the shadows. In the light of the moon, Mike caught a glimpse of dirty-blond hair.

"Kimon?" he asked, relieved that they could just go back inside now and not be out in the night any longer.

"Kimon?" Kave hissed. Mike had only a few moments to realize his mistake before everything went black.

* * *

Kurt heard footsteps behind him, and he froze. "Kurt?" he heard Nina whisper, and he forced himself to relax.

"Yeah. Have you found him?" Kurt asked.

"No sign of him. And I haven't seen Mike in a while. Have you?"

Kurt paused, frowning. "No." he said slowly. "He said he was going to check down that little alley near the library, right?"

"Let's see if we can meet up with him." Nina said. She took a deep breath. "This is going to sound crazy, but I'm getting all sorts of bad feelings. You know, like intuition."

"That doesn't sound crazy." Kurt said. "Mostly because I've been talking to myself for four years." He hesitated, thinking over what Nina had said. "And I think you're totally right. Something's going on…"

Kurt and Nina quickly made their way to Mike's last known location. The library was a larger building than all the rest, which made the streets next to it correspondingly smaller. Kurt and Nina made their way down the alley, then Nina stopped. Kurt almost walked into her.

"Oh-kay, it's pretty obvious he's not here." Nina said. "Maybe he just moved on."

Back out on the street, Kurt looked around. He wasn't surprised that Nina's rudimentary human intuition had figured out that something was wrong; the feeling that they were being watched and/or hunted was… loud. Kurt swore softly; he should have been paying attention.

"You know how you were talking about intuition?" Kurt asked, tasting the comforting purple of the word 'intuition'. "I don't think Mike and Kimon are just lost."

"You think that they're hurt or something?" Nina asked, taking a subconscious step closer to Kurt.

"I don't know, but there's something funny going on here…"

Then someone stepped out from the shadows, into the light given by the moon.

"Took you long enough." Kave said.

* * *

"Okay, so it's dark in here, wherever 'here' is, and I can't actually tell if I'm awake or asleep. Well, I'm sitting on something cold and damp, which would imply that I'm awake, but I can't see a damn thing. Also, I think I can be sure that Kave had something to do with me being here, which means that I really do not want to be staying here for very long, if I can possibly help it. I'm alone and it's dark and cold…" Kimon stopped thinking aloud and shivered. It wasn't supremely cold, but it was damp, and being wet made you feel a lot colder.

"You'd think I'd have some sort of resistance to coldness, since I lived up north for…" Kimon tried to count on his fingers, but it was hard to do, considering he couldn't actually _see_ his fingers. "…five years. I left when Kurt was nine, and the guy's fourteen now, so it must have been five years. What am I saying? I was ten when I left, and now I'm fifteen. Why didn't I just use _my_ age for that? Ow, my head hurts…"

Kimon stopped thinking aloud again. Now that his head wasn't hurting _quite_ so much, he was starting to realize that he sounded a bit stupid. Make that _rather_ stupid, actually.

Suddenly a door opened, somewhere above, and someone landed next to Kimon. "Ow…" the person said. "I landed on my ankle…"

"Who are you?" Kimon asked, scooting away. The other person, a man, swore violently.

"Who the Nether are you?" he demanded. "Wait- I thought you were up there- you helped throw me down here? What the Nether?"

"Uh… I'm Kimon, not Kave. And I think Kave threw me in here too, which would explain why it hurts so much…" Kimon said.

"Kimon?" the man asked. "Oh. I'm Mike. I'm Kurt's uncle, so I guess I'm yours, too."

"Huh." Kimon said. He was a bit amazed at how philosophically they were both taking this. "I hope you're a better uncle than my dad's brother Dylan. He was a drunk, and he thought that Kave was _so_ much better than me, saying he wouldn't have a sissy like me for his nephew. I was so glad when he died from some alcohol-related illness."

Mike laughed. "I like to think I'll be better than Dylan Baker. I haven't gotten drunk since my eighteenth birthday party -the details of which I will spare you, because that was really embarrassing, with the added discomfort of the fact that I couldn't remember any of it- and I like you a lot better than Kave."

There was a pause. "We've never met before." Kimon said.

"Yeah, but I've heard a bit about you and… well, no offence, but it doesn't take much to be more likeable than Kave Baker. He's like Kans, but without the charisma." Mike said.

* * *

"Do you really think you can beat us in a fight?" Nina asked, folding her arms. "You, my friend, are outnumbered by about three to one."

Kave snorted. "Can you not count?" he asked, almost laughing.

"Frankly, I think Kurt counts as more than one person, because of the whole half-Enderman thing." Nina said. "He can see in the dark, and I'm willing to bet that he's stronger than you are."

"Really? That's hard to believe." Kave was confident, you had to give him that.

"Yeah. You know what's the difference between you and him- or Kimon?" Nina asked, taking a step forward and unfolding her arms. Kave raised the point of his sword warningly. Nina raised one of her fingers, pointing it at Kave. "You've never had to struggle! You've never had to fight just to stay alive! Kurt and Kimon _have_, and that makes them stronger than you ever will be!"

Nina glanced at Kurt, who was standing there, glaring at Kave. She'd made him stay so she could talk to Kave, although she wasn't entirely sure what that would accomplish. Getting him to see sense was highly unlikely, but maybe she had to try.

"Maybe so, Nina, but I'm armed, and he isn't. And neither are you." Kave said. Nina wondered when Kave would learn that weapons didn't make much of a difference when Kurt was present- probably a few days after he died, if she was forced to guess.

"True." Nina said. "But I bet that I can say _two words_ that will make you really regret trying to take us on."

"By all means, go ahead." Kave was almost laughing. Two words? Ha!

Nina turned to Kurt.

"Go ahead." she said.

* * *

"Feel anything over there?" Kimon asked. He was running his hands along one of the walls, in the hopes of finding a way out. Neither he nor Mike could reach the ceiling, although Mike had hit it with a piece of loose rock, so they were hoping that whoever had made this room had somehow screwed up.

"Nope. It's all just normal stone brick." Mike said. There was a pause. "Okay, it's mossy over here."

"Hm." Kimon said. "At least we won't go hungry."

He heard Mike make a choking sound. "You eat moss?" he demanded, sounding a bit grossed out.

"I've been living up north for five years, and there isn't a lot of food up there, unless you know how to find it." Kimon said, running his hand over the wall again. "You would not believe what I've eaten when I'm desperate. The list starts with snow, goes past tree bark and into some fairly gross substances…"

"Spare me the details." Mike mumbled. Kimon laughed slightly, although nothing was really funny. He looked up, having already examined the floor and the walls and thinking maybe he should at least _look_ at the ceiling.

He could see the outline of the trapdoor- someone had turned on a light in the room above them. Kimon frowned- he wasn't an expert on that sort of thing, but it seemed to him that the square seemed a bit too large -and therefore close- to be as far away as they had thought. Mike had no idea how far he'd fallen, so they weren't entirely sure how deep they were…

"Mike, look up and tell me how far away you think the ceiling is." Kimon said.

A few moments later, he heard Mike whisper "Bloody Nether. It's not that high."

"Yeah. Do you think I could stand on your shoulders or something? Maybe we could reach it." Kimon said. It took him and Mike a few moments to find each other in the dark and get into position, and soon Kimon could just barely touch the ceiling.

"Man, if only I was an inch taller." Kimon said, trying to reach a bit higher. He tried to stand on his toes, but suddenly he slipped, falling off Mike's shoulders. Five years' experience of falling out of trees managed to keep him from landing on his neck, but the impact still knocked the wind out of him.

"Kimon! Are you alright?" Mike asked. Kimon managed to make some noise, although he couldn't really say anything, but any further attempts at conversation were halted when the trapdoor above them opened.

* * *

Nina's plan had been to stand back and let Kurt deal with his cousin, then intervene before it could turn deadly, but that plan rapidly crumbled when Kave kicked Kurt's feet out from under him. Kurt hit the ground hard, and Kave kicked him in the head, briefly stunning him. Nina took a step forwards, expecting Kave to try and finish Kurt off, but instead, he turned around and pointed his sword at her.

"Don't move, or she dies." Kave said. Kurt and Nina both froze, and Kave's face twisted into a smile.

Kurt, lying on his back, knew full well he wasn't fast enough to disarm Kave before he hurt Nina. Kurt's head hurt, making the fight going on inside him that much harder to mediate. His Enderman side -the animal inside him- was screaming for him to fight, and it didn't matter if Nina got hurt. His human side would do anything to keep Nina safe.

Nina watched Kurt put his hands up. Kave started to laugh- Kurt Hunter had just surrendered.

"Where are you taking us?" Nina asked stiffly. Kave laughed again and pointed. Nina stared, feeling surprised and a little confused. "The Library? Bookie's a Sympathizer?"

"Sweetheart, I don't know how you can be surprised by that." Kave said. Nina's face tightened. "You found out that your own parents are Sympathizers, yet you're shocked when you find out that Bookie's a friend of mine? You are so naïve."

* * *

Kimon looked up, squinting in the light coming through the trapdoor. He could see someone there, but he couldn't tell who it was- they didn't look like Kave or his dad, though.

"Did you just try to escape? I'd really rather you didn't…" a voice said. It was male, although oddly high-pitched, and it sounded like the speaker rarely used it. Kimon and Mike both recognized the speaker.

"Drew? You're a Sympathizer?" Mike asked.

"Hi, Bookie." said Kimon. Bookie's silhouette shifted slightly.

"Don't call me Bookie." he said, an uncharacteristic edge to his voice. Kimon wished he could see Bookie's face- he sounded odd, like he'd changed in the five years Kimon had been gone. "I'm not taking trouble from you, Kimon."

"Why are you helping my dad and Kave?" Kimon asked. "They're probably going to kill us. Come on, Bookie- we used to be friends!"

"Not anymore." Bookie said, sounding determined. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the light, Kimon could see his former friend's face- thick glasses, brown hair that needed to be cut. Bookie had a slight build, but the look on his face reminded Kimon all too much of his own family. "You're a Mob Supporter."

"And you're a frigging Sympathizer, Bookie!" Kimon yelled, clenching his hands into fists. "You're helping the people who killed Esi Hunter, for crying out loud!" Kimon tried to calm down, and took another look at Bookie's face, particularly his expression. Now that he was looking, Kimon noticed a flicker of doubt on Bookie's face. He wasn't as committed as he seemed.

Bookie opened his mouth to say something, but right then Kimon heard a door open, somewhere above them. Kimon's eyes widened as he realized that they must be under Bookie's Library.

"Drew! Get out here!" they heard Kave's voice, and Kimon saw Bookie flinch noticeably. Then he stood up and slammed the trapdoor, plunging them back into darkness.

* * *

Nina stood, still and unresponsive as a rock, as Kave called for Bookie. Nina noted that Kave called the librarian 'Drew', his given name, not 'Bookie' like almost everyone in Bending River did. It was like he was trying to set himself apart.

Nina set aside her speculations about Kave's ego as Bookie ran into the room. Kave still had his sword at her neck, and Kurt seemed to be having a bit of trouble keeping control over his own emotions.

"Bookie." Nina acknowledged his presence. Bookie's real name was Drew Benjamin Miller, but she'd never even heard him use his last name- he usually went by his nickname, as silly as it sounded.

"Er." Bookie said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "How- how can I help?"

"I need another pair of hands- the only thing keeping a lid on Psycho here is the fact that I'm threatening his girlfriend. You have a place we can keep the pair of them?" Kave said.

"Er. The basement's kind of occupied…"

"Well put 'em in the coldroom, then, damn it! I can't hang around all night!"

"Of course not." Bookie flinched. He led the group to the back of the library and opened a door. Kave threw Kurt in first, then Nina, slamming the door after them.

The coldroom was the place Bookie kept his bookbinding supplies. It had originally been designed as a place to keep food that needed to be cold, but when the building had been turned into a library, Bookie's father had used it as a cupboard. It was still cold, though.

"Are we going to escape?" Kurt asked, looking around. There were no windows, and he felt the coldness from the stone brick seeping into his bare feet.

"I think we need to talk, actually. Here's as good a place as any." Nina said. Kurt said nothing, a little scared of where this might be going. Finally, Nina sighed. "Do you love me, Kurt? I think you are, but you're not acting like any of the boys I've ever met- boys are always the ones who make the first moves, but you're not doing anything!"

There was a long pause, then Nina said "I'm very sorry. That was really tactless of me."

"It's alright." Kurt said. He could feel Nina waiting for him to say something else, but he stayed silent.

"That's what I mean." Nina said. "You're not saying anything- how am I supposed to react to a guy who doesn't say a thing? And you didn't answer my question, tactless as it was."

Kurt sighed. "Yes. I do. Your name is the only one with colour…"

"What? My name's got colour?" Nina asked, sounding _very _confused. Kurt wilted a little bit.

"It's not a human thing, then." he said. "I… I taste colours, sometimes, when I say words. Most English words are dull grey, and words in Enderman are always hot and purple… but some words have other colours. 'Nina' is forest green."

There was silence for a while. "Wow. And no, I don't… taste colours. I've heard of that, but it's pretty rare, I think." Nina said, then there was a long silence again. Nina decided that since Kurt had next to no social skills, she didn't need to worry about being tactless. "About you not acting like most boys… you're half male human teenager, so it's not a biological thing. What's holding you back?"

Kurt sighed. "Fear." he said. "I'm an Enderman, and that means I'm afraid of humans."

Nina hesitated, then slipped her hand into Kurt's. She felt Kurt stiffen, almost pull away, and she resisted the impulse to squeeze harder. "You don't need to be afraid of me." she said.

Kurt struggled to fight down the Enderman feelings that threatened to drown out his human thoughts. He somehow managed to not pull away, trying to control the irrational terror burning him inside. It was animal, instinctive, hostile- everything that Endermen were.

"Kurt, are you alright?" Nina asked. She was a bit alarmed; Kurt was squeezing her hand hard, like he couldn't let go if he wanted to- or he wanted to, and was forcing himself to hold on. "That hurts."

She felt him relax, only it wasn't relaxing. It was just not holding so tight any more. "Sorry." Kurt said. "It's _hard_…"

She waited until he started to relax for real before moving just a bit closer…

The door opened.

"Uck, _really?_" Kimon demanded. Kurt and Nina hastily let go of each other's hands. Kimon threw his hands in the air. "I go through the trouble of rescuing your sorry backsides, and I walk in on you two practically kissing! _Not_ cool!"

"We didn't kiss, Kimon." Nina said, trying her best to give him a 'you're an annoying so-and-so who doesn't have his story straight' look. Kurt's face started to turn red.

"Well, it wasn't due to lack of trying, apparently!" Kimon yelled. "Now why don't we get out of here before Bookie and my brother wake up, alright? If you two are finished here, of course." He turned around and stomped off. Mike, who had been standing behind him, looked a bit taken aback.

"Hi." Mike said. "Were you two actually-"

"No." Nina said firmly, walking out of the coldroom and into the library. Up ahead, they heard Kimon slam the library's front door. "And who are you?"

"I'm Mike. I'm Kurt and Kimon's uncle."

"Oh." Nina said as they headed outside. "If you're related to Kurt, you're alright, I guess."

Kurt snorted. "Kans Baker's my uncle, and look at him. I think there's a flaw in your logic, Nina." he said, although the argument didn't have the edge Nina would have expected. She smiled to herself.

"I suppose you're right." she said. "We're going to your house, right, Kurt?"

"Actually, I'm going to be going back to my place- make sure Fanny and Dad are alright. Bye, kids. Have fun." Mike said, and Nina swore that she could hear him chuckling to himself.

"Let's go." Nina said, and they had reason to hurry, because the sun was coming up. They ran into Kimon partway to the forest, and the three of them were lucky enough to reach the shelter of the trees before the sun was above the horizon. They started to walk in the direction of Kurt's house, then Kurt said-

"Wait."

Nina and Kimon watched as he pulled out that book and quill he was still carrying around. Nina shot Kimon a quizzical look as Kurt wrote a few lines.

**This is love**

**I am sure now**

There was a pause.

**More sure than I used to be**

**I think this could work**

**Assuming I can stop being scared of Nina**

**Is it Nina I'm afraid of?**

**Or something else?**

Kurt paused again.

**That is a question for another night**


	10. Chapter 10

Authour's note: This chapter's pretty short, compared to the last few. I'm suffering major motivation issues. I'll keep writing, but if I feel that the quality is going down because I'm not motivated, then I'll stop and take a break. Just a heads up.

* * *

**Night 10**

**Need some time alone**

**Need to think**

**About fuzzy feeling inside me**

**It's like I'm flying**

"That was so blunt and tactless and stupid! I can't believe I acted like that last night!"

"Nina, calm down- Kurt doesn't give a damn, and nobody else was there, so it doesn't matter!"

"It matters to me! And why the heck did you go all parent-y at us? How is it your business whether we were kissing or not?"

"Kurt's my cousin!"

"And he's my-"

Kurt looked up. Nina seemed frozen, unable to decide what exactly Kurt was. Finally, she threw her hands in the air. "I don't even know!" she said. Kurt found himself smiling. "Don't you dare laugh at me." Nina told him.

"I'm not." Kurt said, although he wasn't entirely sure; the fuzzy, float-y feeling inside him was interfering with his emotions. It was really pretty uncomfortable, and he was hoping that this was some human emotional reaction rather than a sign he was getting sick.

Kurt put the notebook in his inventory and stood up. "I'm going out." he said.

"I'll come, too." Nina said, ignoring suspicious looks from Kimon. "I don't want to put up with dum-dum here any longer than I have to." Since she was talking to Kurt and there was only one other person in the room, it was obvious who she meant. Kimon's expression turned a bit sour.

"I'm coming, too." he said, standing up. "Somebody needs to keep an eye on you two."

"Actually…" Kurt started to say. "I need some time alone, alright?" He didn't wait for an answer, but walked over to the hole in the floor and jumped.

He was some ways into the forest before Darker than day appeared. "Before I forget, those two are with me- nobody hurts them." Kurt said, pointing in the direction of his house. "Unless they attack you, in which case go ahead. I doubt they will do that, though. So… anything happening?"

Darker than day seemed a bit surprised by how much Kurt was talking, but he said nothing. "There have been a few encounters- nothing we couldn't handle, though. Nothing at the moment."

Kurt nodded, but before Darker than day teleported, Kurt stopped him. "I… I have a few questions."

"Is this the one about why you can't teleport? And why we can't teach you how- yet?"

"That is one of them, yes."

Darker than day sighed. "I have told you before. You are not balanced inside. Being entirely One Of Us is alright if you are entirely One Of Us, but you are…"

"…not entirely One Of Us." Kurt finished.

"Alright." Kurt said. "I have another question. Do you taste colours when you speak?"

Darker than day paused. "Excuse me?"

"I guess not." Kurt said. "Never mind- it's a human-only thing, apparently, but only I've got it."

Darker than day said nothing. They walked in silence for a few minutes, then they both froze, listening hard. There was a snap, like someone stepping on a branch. There was the sound of muffled swearing.

"You're up." Darker than day said, then he teleported away. Kurt smiled.

* * *

"You know, I think your brother has a crush on me." Nina said.

"I'm not surprised. And can we pretend that we're not related, please? I don't even use my last name anymore."

"Sorry." Nina apologized. Kimon was sitting on the floor, sorting through the items in Kurt's chest and looking rather ticked off. Nina was sitting on the windowsill, watching him and talking.

"You know what- I'm bored." Nina said, sliding off the windowsill. "I'm going to go out and see if I can find Kurt, or something. See what the forest is like when you're not worried about getting murdered." Nina walked over to the hole in the floor and jumped. She picked a random direction and started to walk, humming to herself.

After a while, she hadn't seen a single mob, apart from a zombie that tried to attack her. "Tried" because she killed it. It took her a while, though, since Kurt had broken her sword that time she'd been in the forest and she hadn't gotten a new one.

"Y'know, I really hope mobs understand self-defence." Nina said to nobody in particular. She looked around guiltily. Suddenly, she felt like she was being watched by dozens of unseen eyes. "Hey, I'm sorry, but it frigging attacked me." she said defensively. When nothing answered, she kept walking.

Then there was a snap. Nina froze. There was another snap, and she heard what sounded like someone swearing. She didn't recognize the voice, but she wondered who would be crazy enough to come in here at night?

Nina crept through the trees towards the voice, trying to make as little sound as possible. She was nowhere near as good as Kurt or Kimon, but the unknown person was making enough noise to cover her.

Nina peeked through a few branches and received a shock; the intruder was none other than her old friend, Teresa. "Teri?" Nina whispered. "What are you doing?…"

Teri looked more confident than she should have, given where she was. She was holding a sword, and her long dark hair peeked out from under an iron helmet. Nina was just about to walk over and ask what the Nether she was doing when Teri raised her sword. "Alright, Enderboy. Come out where I can stab you."

"You're pretty cocky for a girl in my home territory." Kurt said casually. Teri spun around, immediately going into a defensive stance.

"I'm not here to talk." Teri said, and Nina couldn't understand her friend's tone of voice. What was Teri doing?…

"Good. We understand each other, then." Kurt said, and he took a step forwards. Teri swung her sword; Nina remembered Teri's semi-legendary fencing skills and wondered if she should intervene. That was the extent of her rational thinking, though; this whole scene had her paralyzed.

It didn't matter that Kurt was unarmed and Teri was a good fencer- it was moments before Teri was lying on the ground, her sword in Kurt's hands. Nina's blood ran cold as Kurt drove the sword into Teri's chest.

What had she expected? Had she expected Kurt to let Teri live, even when he didn't know that they were friends? Had she expected him to change?

A small, truthful part of Nina's mind said that yes, she'd expected Kurt to become normal, despite evidence that that wasn't going to happen any time soon- if ever. Teri's body disappeared, the items from her inventory spilling onto the forest floor. Kurt sorted through the items, taking a few, leaving most, and Nina searched his face for any hint that he was sorry.

She found nothing. Standing up, Nina saw Kurt turn towards her. She looked for guilt at being caught, embarrassment at letting her see this.

She found nothing. Nina turned and ran, starting to cry. She felt like all her illusions had been shattered- the boy she was thinking about going out with had just committed murder, and for him it was completely normal.

And the worse part was, she'd _known_ that that was what Kurt was like. She'd fooled herself into believing that she could make him all-human, but he wasn't all human.

"Nina! Wait!" Kurt shouted, but Nina ignored him. She ran blindly through the forest, scratching her face and arms on the tree branches, and eventually, she found herself back in Bending River.

But who could she go to in a world where no-one was innocent?

* * *

**Serves me right I guess**

**But I'm not going to change**

**They still deserve it**

**Serves them right too**

Kurt paused, a question coming to his mind. He felt that he'd probably have to answer it at some point, although he really wasn't sure he wanted to.

**Would I change what I do? For Nina?**

**For Mom? Kimon?**

**I don't know.**

Kurt remembered what Darker than day had told him.

**Being entirely One Of Us is alright if you are entirely One Of Us**

**But I am not entirely One Of Us**

**Humans don't kill humans**

**But Endermen do**

**This is a [long word starts with P]**

"Paradox?" Kimon suggested.

"Pair of what?"

"Never mind." Kimon yawned. Outside, the sun was rising. Both he and Kurt had reverted to their natural sleep cycles, which meant they had to endure a minimum of actual contact. Kimon paused in the middle of running a hand through his hair. "Say, where's Nina?"

"Ran off." Kurt said, keeping his eyes on his notebook.

"What? Why?"

"She caught me killing Teresa Omar. She was in the forest, so she deserved it." Kurt said, his eyes glowing a bit brighter. Kimon couldn't tell if he was angry with Teresa, Nina or himself.

"We're going to have to talk about that." Kimon said. "I'm not sure how comfortable I am with you murdering people."

"Are you comfortable with hostile mobs killing people?" Kurt asked. "Because I'm not just human."

Kimon sighed, reluctantly admitting his cousin had a point. Kimon realized that there would be misunderstandings as long as anyone thought of Kurt as just-human or just-Enderman.


End file.
